A stand for a top-heavy plant

Lisa found a really nice, large staghorn fern, and needed something to support it. Staghorn ferns are mounted on boards, and this one weighs about 30 lbs. It is mounted on a 2′ square board, the plant is about 3′ wide and 4′ high.

I struggled with this design, because the weight of the fern tends to tip it forward. I finally came up with a design that resembles an artists easel. There is a frame with a ledge for the fern’s board, a diagonal brace for stiffness to the back and long feet extend out in front to keep it from tipping forward.

I worry about wood rotting when it is in direct contact with concrete and water. For this design, I used some trex plastic wood scraps and stainless steel screws to create rot-proof feet that lift the frame off the ground.

I built this before I had a website, and didn’t take any pictures at the time. It is placed under the stair to our two story deck, and is hard to photograph. I had to get into that area recently, so I tried to take a few pictures in the cramped space. Hopefully, they give you an idea of how it turned out.

Top                      drawings
Second from top  overall picture from the side
Third from top      top of stand and staghorn on board
Fourth from top    long legs to keep from tipping
Fifth from top       detail of brace and trex feet
Bottom                detail of top of frame